When business partners and friends Rick Mikulic and Marshall Roossin came up 2 Fat Guys Grilled Cheese as the name for their new food truck, subtlety wasn't part of the equation.
"Everybody likes grilled cheese," Mikulic says, "and it's a broad enough category to do a lot of different things with. And, well, I'm one of the fat guys."
Mikulic, originally from Kansas City, and Roossin, from Long Island, came up with the idea last year as a way to supplement their jewelry businesses. Liking the cost-effectiveness of a food truck and encouraged by the success of The Grilled Cheese Truck, the popular, L.A.-based mobile kitchen franchise that made its Phoenix debut in January of this year (Mikulic and Roossin have yet to visit due to the long lines), 2 Fat Guys, armed with cheesy sandwiches and loaded spuds, will be hitting the streets soon.
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2 Fat Guys will offer 12 kinds of grilled cheese sandwiches -- from classics made with ingredients like bacon, tomato, and avocado to more inventive selections, including a Brie, Granny Smith apple, and honey creation (To Brie or Not to Brie) and one called The Toasty Pig made with pepper jack and Havarti cheeses, thin slices of pork, pickles, onions, and barbecue sauce. Guests can customize their sandwich with cheesy choices like fat-free Swiss, habanero jack, and Muenster.
Mikulic tells me top-notch ingredients -- think locally made thick bread from Capistrano's Wholesale Bakery and meats from Schreiner's Sausage -- are what separates a 2 Fat Guys grilled cheese sandwich from everyone else's. Sandwich prices range from $6 to $7.75 and include a choice of sides like a black bean, corn, and Colby Jack salad or celery sticks and peanut butter.
In addition to the grilled cheese, 2 Fat Guys also offers one-pound baked potatoes ($4-$5.50) loaded with cheese, sour cream and chives, or cheddar and broccoli with extra toppings such as crumbled bacon available for an additional 50 cents.
"We'd like to do chili, too," Mikulic says, "but in the winter. Not when it's 110 degrees."
This month, 2 Fat Guys Grilled Cheese will be at Tempe's Four Peaks Tasting Room from 5 to 8 p.m. Monday, July 15, and as part of the Phoenix Street Food Coalition Food Truck Day at Whole Foods Market Raintree from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursday, July 18. To see where else they might show up, follow them on their Facebook page.
